New at Morning By Morning: Coffee Culture at the Blue Door

Morning By Morning wants you to "wake up with a mission." It’s their motto. They believe in starting the day purposefully and that coffee is an excellent first step.  

Morning By Morning is Perry’s specialty coffee company. They select the beans from sustainable farms in coffee-growing regions and bring them to Perry, where they roast, grind, and brew them. Their coffee house is a marvel, converted from a 1957 Pure gas station, with the old pumps and driveway bell still intact. Here, coffee is not just a drink; it’s their passion, an art, and a way to unite people.

A few years ago, MBM’s owner, Beth Cleveland, was looking for something to do in her spare time and began roasting coffee beans in a popcorn air popper. She got pretty good at it, borrowed more air poppers, then bought a large roaster and started roasting for friends and customers of her family business, Cleveland Organics. As her roasting techniques grew, so did her understanding of a sustainable supply chain and the importance of supporting small farms. She began to see the social atmosphere around coffee and how coffee can transform a community. Morning By Morning was founded on her belief that coffee creates community, and she knew that she wanted to engage and educate her community about coffee and its culture.  

As her customers began to express interest in learning more about the coffee they were drinking, she was spurred to start hosting monthly Coffee Culture Workshops. These workshops are geared toward coffee lovers of all levels who want to deepen their understanding of coffee and refine their brewing techniques. Upcoming workshop topics include coffee tasting, sustainability, home brewing methods, and coffee lingo.  

I attended one of their recent classes, Home Brewing Methods, and my Coffee Culture experience was worth much more than the $25.00 class fee. Our small group was shown different types of coffee beans, different coffee grinds (from very coarse to powder), and which to use for various brewing methods. We learned about cold brew, siphon, AeroPress, Chemex, pour-over, moka pot, and French press methods. We discussed the proper coffee-to-water ratio, best water temperature, and bloom time for each, and we tasted a difference with each technique we tried. We learned tips like wetting filters with hot water to eliminate the paper taste and tapping, not tamping, the grinds for a moka pot.  

Coffee is a new world, and I’ve only scratched the surface. I want to attend all of the MBM Coffee Culture workshops!

Their workshop schedule can be found on their website at morningbymorningcoffee.com/mbm-coffee-culture.

Reserve your seat by calling them at (478) 224-3880. 

Morning By Morning is located at 1012 Main Street in historic downtown Perry, Georgia. Their operating hours are 6:30 a.m.—3:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

Upcoming Classes:

Coffee Tasting

April 25, 2024 @ 6:30 p.m. - Join the discussion and taste how different stages of growing, processing, roasting, and brewing affect the final product. $25

TBD

May 9, 2024 @ 6:30 p.m.

Home Brewing Methods II

June 27, 2024, @ 6:30 p.m. - A more hands-on workshop with discussion and tasting of the latest home-brewing coffee trends. $25

While exploring Perry’s downtown coffee scene...

Don’t miss the chance to visit Bodega Brew at 1025 Ball Street for another exceptional coffee experience, serving a diverse selection of freshly roasted brews in a welcoming atmosphere.  

Bonus:

A brief history of the three great coffee waves...

Each wave represents a significant shift in the coffee industry. The first wave dates back to the 1800s when people began consuming coffee regularly, and it became an essential item in every household. Folgers and Maxwell House, instant coffee, and vacuum packaging were important figures during this time. The second wave came about in the late 1960s with Peet’s Coffee shops and Starbucks. People began to criticize the mass-produced coffee and wanted something better. They wanted to enjoy their coffee, and shops were designed to be more relaxed and allow socializing. Frappuccinos, cappuccinos, and lattes became more available, and people opted for a cafe rather than making their own coffee. The third wave was coined in the late 1990s after people began to value the differences in origins and flavor in the way that a wine connoisseur values differences in fermentation and grapes. Coffee became a movement, an experience, a culinary appreciation, and an art form. Every step is done with intention and an eye on quality. Some people use "third wave" and "specialty" interchangeably, but there is a difference. The third wave refers to the mindset around coffee; specialty is all about the quality. It’s about the beans. You don’t need third wave to have specialty coffee, but you must have specialty coffee for the third wave.